Eikäyttäjän

Eikäyttäjän is a Finnish neologism used in discussions about digital services to denote a person who is not a user of a given product or service. The term functions as a counterpart to "käyttäjä" (the user) in debates about reach, accessibility, and privacy. Because it is not part of standard Finnish dictionaries, its use is primarily found in academic, policy, and design discourse rather than formal legislation.

Etymology and form: The word is a compound built from ei (not) and käyttäjä (user) with the genitive suffix -n, creating a noun that reads as "the non-user" or "of the non-user". It is typically used as a descriptive label rather than as a formal category.

Context and usage: In user experience studies and digital inclusion work, eikäyttäjän helps frame questions about how a service affects people who do not actively use it—for example, individuals who encounter the service via third-party platforms, privacy concerns for non-users, or the potential reach of a product. It may also be used to discuss data flows that involve non-users, such as contextual advertising or location-based services that do not require active engagement.

Limitations: Because it is not standardized, the term can be ambiguous. In formal texts, authors often replace it with clearer expressions like ei-käyttäjä or non-user, depending on the context.

See also: Käyttäjä; Digitaalinen osallisuus; Käyttäjäryhmä; Tietosuoja.